Fully digital phone services: information for special service providers

If you provide or are involved in the provision of special services that work using our phone network, like fire alarms, security alarms and telecare pendants, you’ve come to the right place.

What's happening?

Like major telcos around the world, we’re making some changes to the way we provide phone services, upgrading our customers from the existing analogue phone service to an enhanced digital service. We’ll be launching new digital phone services towards the end of 2018 and aim to have all of our customers using fully digital phone services by the end of 2025.

Essentially this means that we will be making fundamental changes to the older analogue parts of our network. For our customers the key change is that their telephone service will run over broadband. Phones will connect to the broadband router instead of being plugged into the phone socket on the wall. Exactly how they connect (i.e. if they are plugged in or work wirelessly) will depend on the type of phone being used.

BT will provide an analogue telephony adapter as part of our broadband router to help you make the transition to digital, but this is an interim solution and testing is essential.

Work with us

We want to work with you to ensure you’re aware of how the changes to our network will affect your existing products and services.

We’ve opened a digital services lab at Adastral Park near Ipswich, our research and development site, in July 2018 for you to come and test your services in this new digital world. We also want to help you benefit from this opportunity to develop innovative new products and services.